excuse our mess, missing you, & the way to my heart (ToL#169)

1. We made it! I think. At the time I’m writing this (Wednesday afternoon), Spoons is still in the process of migrating servers (why so long?!?!), but by the time you’re reading this, I’m hoping that we’re all nice and snug in our new home. I tell ya… techie issues have got to be some of my least favourite issues to deal with, probably because that’s a realm that I know next to nothing about. You would think that I’d have some sort of grasp on it after 3 years of blogging, but there’s literally always something new to learn. Or always something new that breaks. Or always something new you thought you learned but ended up breaking. Please let this be the last of it.

2. And speaking of “something you thought you learned but ended up breaking”… I randomly stopped receiving email notifications whenever someone leaves a comment after doing some server upgrades last Saturday, so if you left me a comment and I haven’t answered yet, I swear I’m not ignoring you – I’m just trying to sort out the mess that has become my blogging life and figure out how to get those notifications back. Please let this be the last of it.

3. So hey! It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend! ? And while I know it’s a Hallmark holiday that lots of people love to snark on, I’ll admit that I don’t quite understand all the cynicism. I’m not all out crazy about Valentine’s Day, but regardless of my relationship status, I’ve always enjoyed it… if for no other reason than because it’s a break from the ordinary and another reason to get excited… even if it’s just a little bit, and even if it’s over something silly. You know those little boxed Valentine’s cards we used to give out in grade school? The ones we took reaaaaaaaally seriously so that we didn’t accidentally give the wrong one to the “weird” kid in our class? I miss those. I hope they’re still a thing these days.

4. You know what else I miss? You guys. As much as I enjoy writing and photography, blogging feels a little dry and lonely without the connections and conversations… and the lack of e-mail notifications paired with the craziness of trying to get my server situation sorted has made me a little more absent than I’d like to be. BUT! the good news is that things are definitely looking up! There’s just one more really big tweak that I have to tackle before I’m in the clear, which I’m hoping to do within the next day or two.

5. I’m also hoping that I’ll have a chance to tackle this pizza craving that’s been plaguing me for… well… only for a day or so, but still! It’s been relentless. I’m thinking pizza night needs to happen this weekend, and I’m thinking that I might just go all out and whip one up from scratch. You guys… it’ll be my first time. I hope it’s gentle.

6. In other foodie news, this basically sums up how I’ve been feeling about potatoes lately…

8. So yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which means that Lent is officially underway. It started crazy early this year, eh?! I realize this isn’t something that everyone observes, but for those who do, what are you giving up this year? Not surprisingly, chocolate is the #1 answer, according to this website, with social networking and alcohol coming in at #2 and 3. Kind of dying over the fact that school made the list. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way ?

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School?! Well, if you asked one of my little German students he’d tell you it was a great idea. He suggested school only on Saturdays and Sundays yesterday. When I told him that meant he’d have to go there two and a half times as many years he reconsidered ;).
My fingers are crossed crossed crossed for you – both on the blogging and pizza front.

I am so glad you were able to post today! I hope things remain smooth from here, it’s been enough of this tech nonsense for you! And yes, they still have the cute little cards for the kids to give out in class – my son used to in elementary school. it was so fun. they even have a valentine mailbox that you put on your desk to collect them! It stops though by like fourth grade I think, if I recall correctly.

Glad the blog things are falling into place! I’m the same with tech stuff – I don’t understand technology and probably never should’ve started a blog in the first place. And the cards are definitely still a thing! My kids did theirs last night and I had the same thought about giving which one to who. My kids didn’t seem to have the same thoughts and just wanted to make sure names were spelled correctly

I’m all about potatoes lately too. Especially roasted. SO GOOD. I’m actually not a fan of Valentine’s Day, relationship or not. I did like it when I was in grade school and handed out the cute cards, but I just feel like it’s so commercialized at this point. It just seems crazy that it has turned into a holiday of huge expectations for presents, candy, etc. I’d rather not celebrate and go do something low-key. Skiing, hiking, Netflix binging

I’m glad things on your website are coming together. Hopefully everything is working well with the notifications soon. The other day was national pizza day so you should definitely enjoy some pizza this weekend.

Good luck making pizza from scratch! I like making homemade pizza, but have never tried to make the crust myself! And I have to say, the updates you have done seem great so far…your page is moving SO much faster!

Especially with the abyss that is funemployment (and not being a recipe blog, lol), I don’t know what I would do without being able to blog and such. Talk about going out of my mind! You guys are my connection to the “real” world. Zoe the cat tries, but she just can’t quite hack it 😀

That heart potato is too cool. I love when I find random things in the shape of other random things (did that make sense?)Also, those Valentine’s day cards are definitely still a thing! In fact, if you look at any mom blogs, they may be taken even MORE seriously – parently seriously make them themselves these days!

I love the lent talk! It’s oddly kind of my favorite time of year. Something about advent and lent change my mindset into preparing, which us bloggers love preparation! I stopped giving up things in college because I found myself focussing more on the challenge aspect of it (read my blog for 5 seconds and you’ll see I’m entirely too competitive with myself) so for a couple of years now I’ve just been setting aside daily time for prayer and journaling and it really does help me focus on the important things so much! I also love Valentines day… I’m not too cynical in any regard, I’ll celebrate it all.

The only thing on my mind lately is house hunting! Found the house of my DREAMS yesterday..and unfortunately it’s the house of about 5 other couples dreams because we’re in a major bidding war. We’ll see what happens, but that’s all I can think about today!

Ohhh! I hate blog technical stuff too. When I redid my site, I had so many issues and was in tears so many times! It’s hard to not feel in control of something that matters so much to you! Best of luck.

Ugh, tech problems are the worst! I’ve learned that I have to breathe and just not panic when something goes wrong with my blog. When I start freaking out it just takes me that much longer to fix it! Hope that’s the last of your tech problems!

I’ve never tried kabocha. Do you roast it plain or put some seasoning on it?

Blegh. From someone who is also currently amidst the technical hassles of blogging malfunctions – here’s my wine glass clinking to yours. Although, me being in my first year only, and you in your third, I realize that this will not be a one time thing. Ah well!
I so miss those valentines cards. I really do hope they are still going. I wonder. I hope they aren’t doing any sort of e-card or iPhone text crap. Good luck with the rest of your blog moving and homemade pizza making!

I am a cynic when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Not because of my relationship status, but the feeling that people HAVE to do something that day. I wouldn’t want any guy I’m dating to feel obligated to do something. He should want to do something.

Plus, Valentine’s Day isn’t fun after elementary school because we can’t waste a whole day on candy and cards like we used to. You mean we still have to learn/work?

Aww yeah I hear that. It was definitely more fun as a kid and the expectations are something I can do without too. But as long as the guy you’re with is doing stuff for you on the regular, then I guess that makes it just another day

I think you’ll be happy to hear your site is ALREADY so much faster for me!!! YAY!!! So the server migration or whatever behind the scenes stuff you were working on is definitely doing it’s job! Long live Spoons! PS: That perfectly roasted squash is calling my name!

I hope everything is fixed and back to A-Ok with Spoons!
And seriously, I want to buy those kid valentine cards just so that I can hand them out again. Can’t I just mail them to people? I mean really, how stinkin’ fun are those things? It’s decided…I’m totally buying some. My siblings have yet ANOTHER reason to be embarassed of me. Maybe I’ll stand outside their school and pass them out to their friends as they leave 😉

Boo i cannot get mine to link up! Keeps saying no backlink (there is.. I’ve checked a hundred times!) and error loading link. Darn! I tried at least I hateee technical issues on the blog. I’m awful at figuring out what goes wrong. I’m glad you are almost out of that mess! I’ve missed you!

I have been so upset that my TJ’s has not been carrying kabocha lately, your perfectly roasted kabocha is making me jealous! I wish I could give up school for lent lol but again, I think that defeats the purpose of lent haha!

Roasted potatoes sound really good right now… might have to get some potatoes this weekend. Do you season them specially or plain-roast them? And homemade pizza sounds equal parts fun and delicious – the perfect way to satisfy a pizza craving!

Haha that greeting card is a Simpsons classic! I’ve been craving pizza too ever since my Snapchat was filled with National Pizza Day amazingness. I’m not giving anything up for Lent this year — I don’t know, something feels not right about it considering I haven’t been to church in awhile. But who knows..maybe I’ll “add something in” instead of cutting something out. We’ll see!

Yay for hopefully getting the techie issues sorted out! I wrote a massive comment on your last blog post and then had an error when uploading it – ahhh! The joys of blogging! I tried to rewrite what I wrote but couldnt get the words right so just left it… Was probably just about dates and nut butter – I always seem to lust over them when reading your posts! Haha!

I think Valentine’s Day is so cute – love seeing red roses everywhere and any excuse to eat some chocolate! David and I just give each other cards but it’s still such a nice thing to do

So sorry about the website issues but I’m glad they are almost all figured out! PS I left a comment yesterday on this post and it wouldn’t show up? So I am trying again but hopefully that’s something on my end and not yours 😛